These photographs were all taken in January 2004 on a return visit to Ghana. I think they show something of the traditional way of life and portray Ghanaians as a happy, welcoming people.

My wife and I started married life in Ghana where we taught for three years, so we thought it appropriate to go back shortly after our retirement. January is harmattan time so the air is dryer and dustier then at other times. This can cause spectacular sunsets and lake Bosumtwi, a lake sacred to the Ashanti, has a very special and mysterious atmosphere.

Although much recent development is visible, especially along the coast, we felt that the lot of the average Ghanaian has not improved much over the years. AIDS is, of course, a concern but is not as widespread as in some parts of Africa. The population has, however, grown from around 6 million in the mid 60s to around 17m today. Children are everywhere, often working.

Gonja ferry

We travelled alone and would encourage anyone do the same – it is one of the safest countries to visit and we never felt the remotest bit threatened. The north is especially rewarding – and most in need of the tourist dollar!

People in the north are particularly poor, many villages still living at subsistence level. A number of photos show the benefits of simple technology – one or two also show how misguided western aid can be (a litter bin is visible on one - given by a European donor country). We also spotted a wheely bin!

We saw weaving in Tafi Abuipe, Bonwire and Gonja, a blacksmith in Gambaga, a peanut shelling machine (also in Gambaga), and the ubiquitous corn grinder.

Protocol normally requires a visit to the chief before wandering around a village. The chief at Diani told us of the problems facing the village - water a kilometer away, no medical facilities, a poorly equipped school, little work in the dry season from September to May and so on. With the help of the Peace Corps some villages had started ecotourism projects and so were deriving more benefit from tourism, but none were affluent.

Chief of Diani

Building styles vary. Dwellings, for the extended family are usually built to form a compound. They may be sqare or round, plain or decorated, with a thatched roof or a flat mud roof, but will always be cool despite the outside temperature. The compound will have storage but not toilet facilities - water is scarce in many parts and often has to be carried by women, usually in a bucket or bowl on their head, for distances of up to a kilometre or so.

Traditional houses will be made of mud, and building them will be the responsibility of the men - erecting a new compound will involve a large proportion of the men in a village. Building is usually undertaken outside the rainy season, when there is little else to keep them occupied.

Labour, as so often in the developing world is divided, and although to our eyes there appeared to be some inequality, women frequently play a very powerful role in the economy. For instance, while fishing was a man’s job, the wholesale distribution of the catches (see the photos of Elmina) was entirely in women’s hands.

Fish trader at Elmina

The traditional religion of Ghana is animist. Islam arrived in the north and there are a number of mosques, especially around Wa, built in the Sudanese mud and brick style. Animism often survives side by side with the imported religions. There are photographs showing both.

Tengzugu shrine

Near Wechiau, village near Wa, a Lobi man makes a variety of musical instruments, including the traditional wood and calabash xylophone. He is seen below preparing the local ‘snuff’.

Making snuff

Gambaga (the so-called witches village), in the north, provides safety for women expelled from their own village. The chief of the village has the power to exorcise the evil spirits in these women and after treatment they are allowed to settle.

Former witches

Ghana’s second major industry is Gold production. Ashanti Goldfields produces around 10% of the world’s gold from its modern deep mines, mainly at Obuasi just south of Kumasi. Pouring the newly refined gold is especially spectacular.

Pouring gold

I hope you like the photographs and will feel motivated by them to visit the country – the biggest change to its economy since the sixties is the growth of the tourist industry. I also hope you agree Ghana has much more to offer than the slave forts on the coast and Mole game reserve in the north - exciting though it can be to stand head to head with a wild elephant.